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Skimo, The State of Trail, and Remembering Your 'Why' feat Winter Olympian Lara Hamilton | Episode 96
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In this episode of Peak Pursuits Sim and Jess are lucky enough to be joined by not only one of the best trail runners in Aus but now a Winter Olympian to boot Lara Hamilton! Lara is currently in Italy in the days leading up to her two Skimo events in the Olympics, and she joins us to chat briefly through her journey so far and what it is like being named on her first Olympic team.
Hear how Lara trains, how she stays in touch with what she loves about sport and music, and plenty of the fun stories that always come with any time spent with Lara!
Also hear an update from Jess with answers on her long term gut troubles, Sim's update as she gets moving again, and a discussion on the 'State of Trail Running' articles that have been popping up recently before results and a Tarawera preview.
A big episode - Enjoy!
Results:
***Don’t forget, use code PEAK at https://bix-hydration.myshopify.com/en-au for 20% off Bix products, exclusive to PPP listeners!***
Thanks for tuning in to Peak Pursuits!
Connect with us on Instagram @peakpursuits.pod to share your thoughts, questions, and your own trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
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Transcript
Introduction and Hosts
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 96 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. My name is Simone Brick and I am so excited for this episode today because it's going to be a big one. um And joined joining me, i have regular co-host Jess Jason. are we doing, in Jess? Jess Jason.
00:00:26
Speaker
Hey guys, I'm good. um Yeah, enjoying the Canberra sunshine at the moment and very excited for our guests that we have on today. Yes, yes. And that guest is a name that's been mentioned many, many times on this podcast. I believe has won the ah performance of the year, at least over the short distance, the last two years in a row. um and is very much one of Australia's best trail running athletes that has now taken a bit of a twist and landed herself at the Winter through Olympics. It's the one and only Lara Hamilton.
Meet Lara Hamilton
00:01:01
Speaker
Welcome, Lara. Hey, everyone. Thanks for having me on. ah it's ah It's long overdue. It's long overdue, my woman. um After the amount of stuff you've done in trail before this and the amount of times you've been mentioned, it's almost like in my head you'd had been on before. um But...
00:01:19
Speaker
That's okay. That's okay. You're here now. And we're going to get started with a bit of an interview with Lara and getting to know Lara a bit before we have some fun discussion topics for today and questions with the usual results coming for Cradle Mountain and a few other events that happened over the weekend at the end.
Lara's Athletic Journey
00:01:40
Speaker
But to get started, Lara, I'm going i'm goingnna I'm going to leave the Olympics chat for later because there's a ah really cool story of how you got there and where we and where we started and where we ended up. So how long has it been since you actually lived in Australia? Weird question to start with. 2021. 2021. left for for a job in America after coming back from college. So that was a bit of a break. Okay, but what year did you move across for college before that? 2019. 2019. Okay, okay. So talk talk us through like where are you where's where's home in Oz when you were in Oz slash come back to Oz and then your start in running.
00:02:23
Speaker
where Where was it? Yeah, yeah. So in Australia, um home is with mum and dad because i don't have a base for myself there. And that's in Castle Crag. um It's north of Sydney and it's a nice place. there's lots of trees and near the ocean, so it makes me happy when I visit them.
00:02:43
Speaker
But ah starting in running was interesting because my first sport was actually a winter sport. It was Nordic skiing. um And i ran to train for Nordic skiing. I guess you would call it trail running, but we didn't really see the difference. We just ran around Perisha with poles in our hands in off season.
00:03:01
Speaker
and that was running. And I guess I entered a race one day. It would have been the Sydney Harbour 5 and 10K event um because we came back early. There was no snow that year. It would have been 2015.
00:03:15
Speaker
And I broke the ribbon and I said, oh, I think I'm good at running. So
Challenge of Ankylosing Spondylitis
00:03:20
Speaker
um I started to enter other events, eventually got a coach and I started running properly. That is epic and she just goes to show, I think, isn't it all the studies show that Nordic skiers have the highest VO2 max and like are the fittest people on the earth anyway? So ah that translated well for you. But what age were you at that point, like getting into 16 17, 16 maybe. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then from that time of just getting into it and getting a coach, like how long after that did you land yourself at college and which college, like you on, it this was for running. Yeah. You moved across to America.
00:03:55
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So I guess, um, Two years later, 2017, win the Australian Under-20 Cross Country Championships and that's really when the scholarship offers rolled through.
00:04:08
Speaker
um we just had some sickness in the family so I pushed it back a couple of years, completed my undergrad in Australia and then moved over to the US in 2019 to do my Masters. Oh, cool. I didn't realise it was your Masters you did over there. That's awesome.
00:04:22
Speaker
um And I'm not sure on the timelines here, um but at some point in this whole ah period of college slash or before you even went, like when did ankylosing I don't even know how to pronounce this, but when did the AS symptoms start and how did that journey journey drive in, which people that follow you on Instagram will have hopefully followed along this process as you've been going through it. But I think it's, it's such a huge part of a why you inspire me is with what you're doing and where you've ended up now, but like what you deal with on a day to day basis.
Transition to Ski Mountaineering
00:05:00
Speaker
Um, so when did that all start in this time period? Yeah. Um,
00:05:04
Speaker
Look, there were heaps of signs and random kind of injuries, I say that word lightly, starting in 2018. um And I didn't know that was kind of the start of it, but we didn't get the diagnosis until I returned back to Australia after college in 21.
00:05:20
Speaker
So I would have been 23 at the time. And um essentially in 2018, I had this freak injury out of nowhere. An MRI showed that I had a partially torn hamstring tendon, but I hadn't really done anything that would be conducive to that um So we tried PRP multiple times. We took eight to nine months off, um no running, and the MRIs looked exactly the same at the end of it.
00:05:44
Speaker
And that's when it kind of became clear, hey, there's a deeper problem. um Luckily, I have a very good medical team over there, and we figured it out and been able to get treatment, which keeps it at bay. But it is a lifelong thing because there isn't an actual cure to it. um There's just things that slow down the progression of the disease.
00:06:03
Speaker
Yeah, and this is, I should actually say, then it's ankylosing spondylitis is the actual condition. Ankylosing spondylitis, yeah. Yeah, something something one something that you look at on us on a ah paper and I'm a bit like, yep, there's a way to pronounce it and I'm going to get it wrong most of the time. um But, yes, that is a – is it genetic or? Yeah, it is. um It's just like – unluckiness yeah yep yep pretty much one of those ones but uh the things you've done since and also how you've had to deal with it while trying to achieve those things with a body that you can sometimes rely on and sometimes it's just throws up at the worst times um
00:06:51
Speaker
Yeah, like this is why even before we got on this call, as we were saying, like this whole week when you've been posting all about being at the Olympic ceremony and getting your ticket to the Olympics, et cetera, I'm like there is no one more deserving of this after the amount of time you've put in.
00:07:05
Speaker
um But before even this, like – I was lucky enough to get to spend some time with you overseas recently, um but also you had every time you came back to Oz, you put up some epic trail results. So where did where did the transition then come from sort of the college and then finding yourself more in the trail running scene?
00:07:27
Speaker
Yeah, so um actually in college we were trail running because the coaches believed that soft surfaces as much as possible were better. So like all our easy runs, everything except the truck was on trail. Um, our long runs had drive us up to a ski resort called Broga's Basin because they were altitude and we would do our long run on a trail called around the, around the mountain.
00:07:50
Speaker
Um, so i guess like didn't, I saw it as running. We were told like we're training and then, uh, Salomon North America held like a, um, running Academy. You had to apply for it.
00:08:03
Speaker
And I got selected, um And I was so lucky at the time, like Courtney DeWalter was there, Max King was there. um So many big names in trail running. And that's when I really got into it. And unfortunately, it was COVID shortly after in Australia or like around that time anyway, just the US had
Training and Life in France
00:08:20
Speaker
different laws.
00:08:21
Speaker
And um yeah, I just worked through AS and had the goal, I'm going to end up at the Golden Trail Series final. um I didn't know when, but I was like, that's my goal. And then 2024, achieved that.
00:08:37
Speaker
Yeah, buddy. Yeah. The 2024, that was the, geez, I'm getting my years mixed up. That was the one in Switzerland?
00:08:48
Speaker
No. You were there. Yeah, you were in accommodation. Yes. Eskona Lucano. do Yes, Eskona Lucano. Okay, cool. I get my years of golden trout. Honestly, it I sound old at this point, but it's like I just get the cup the few years mixed up which when I was in Italy versus when I was in ah Switzerland. Anyways, anyways.
00:09:11
Speaker
that was That was already like that whole season I know had its ups and downs in a big way, um but you did. You got to that final. And then where from there to sort of now, um so that was end of 2024, we're at what, so year and a bit later. um two years oh my god have I got my 2024 yes anyways I'm gonna edit that part um um you went to world champs in between but other than that like when did the shift to sort of I'm gonna have a crack at Schemo alongside my trail running intertwine yeah so I was already racing Schemo from 2022 in the US I just like was doing it as a supplement
Balancing Music and Sports
00:10:00
Speaker
to running to stay fit in the winter so um
00:10:03
Speaker
There's like a Colorado Cup Series and the USA National Series. And I was doing events that are called the individual and the vertical. I was actually avoiding the sprint at all costs because I was convinced i can't sprint.
00:10:16
Speaker
My running coach would probably tell you, Laura doesn't have a single fast twitch fiber in her body. And I think it's still true. We're just trying to shove a square peg into a round hole right now. And I'm doing ah the best job of it that I can.
00:10:29
Speaker
um But, yeah, i was racing those, and then I got my first chance to race a World Cup in Schemo. um Wait, when was that? Oh, my gosh, the years.
00:10:40
Speaker
No, ah yeah, I raced my first World Cup of Schemo prior to that in 2024 earlier. So I did race my first sprint. But I committed to a full World Cup Schemo season for the 24-25.
00:10:52
Speaker
So once I got home from that Golden Trail race, I just trained like a madhouse to, like, get, Everything squared away, all my skills and techniques and went overseas and did all the Olympic qualifying events and um was successful. I posted an auto qualifier for the team. um Multiple people can post an auto qualifier, but come the first events of this year, which determined who was getting the spot, I was still the only one who was able to post that standard. So the spot landed in my hands.
00:11:26
Speaker
Epic. And I was, yeah, being being through this whole process of like before and you talking me through what you had to do in order to try and qualify and the dates and it was mind-boggling even to me but even throughout that you were moving countries. Like when did you move from America over to France? that was that Honestly, that felt like a such a quick thing for me on and as an outsider of going, oh, she was in America, oh, now she's in France. Like when did that happen? Yeah, I kind of made the decision in February of – 2025 I love this year game trying to trying to figure it all out hey I know tell me about it moved yeah because time's a bit of a blur right now okay I moved um in June but I visited or remote in February for about a month then again in April and I was like I think this is a good place for me to balance my schema training and my run training it has the facilities I need um
00:12:23
Speaker
It's not illegal to ski on the piste. In Italy, it's actually illegal to do my sport on the piste. So I'm basically only in the backcountry and forest training right now um or at the Nordic Centre.
00:12:35
Speaker
But, um yeah, it's just a great place. And I made the move kind of when my visa ran out in the U.S. because, yeah, couldn't stay after that. Yeah, yeah.
00:12:45
Speaker
Jeez, all of the big life moves while also going for the Olympics for the first time um in the hope of making it. how How did it feel when you were told you were the team? You know what? it It was awesome but it didn't really hit me until um we got like the team kit because I've always been a person and like think it's important to say this because it's very human um I have a hard time sometimes accepting that good things can actually happen to me without a bad thing happening alongside it, just
Olympic Experience and Athlete Pressures
00:13:20
Speaker
because that's what I've experienced so much in my life. Like if good things start to line up, I go, Ooh, like it's something going to happen.
00:13:28
Speaker
And you know, with this, I'm like, Oh no, it's actually something that I can really enjoy. like Like it can't be taken from me. um Yes. I have to stay in one piece in these training days. I can't get injured, but um yeah, and like I've achieved it and it's here um and I can, now accept that I'm on the Australian Olympic team and that's a really beautiful thing because yeah a lot of times in life like you know I've won the USA golden ticket for golden trail and then I've had a freak AS flare up and end up in hospital and can't go so I like got suspicious i was like something's gonna happen um not a good thing but just something to be aware of that not everything has to end like that
00:14:08
Speaker
Yeah, so easy. um when When you've had that many knockbacks um at prime moments, it's a I understand. I understand entirely. Jess, you got any questions for Lara so far here and here in the journey so far?
00:14:23
Speaker
Well, yeah, like um so the event that you're doing at the Olympics is the sprint category. um So for people that don't know, ski mountaineering has various different events, but the Olympic events are the sprint and the relay. um Can you explain a little bit just briefly like the differences between the sprint and then the vertical and the other events? Yeah, sure. So at this Olympics, yeah, we have the sprint and the mixed relay. I actually do have a relay partner, so we'll be doing – Both.
00:14:54
Speaker
um These events, the sprint and mixed relay are similar in the fact that on the Sunday event, which is the last event, the mixed relay, they'll use half of the sprint course for one part of the course because you have two climbs. So one of the climbs is going to be the climb from the race on the Thursday.
00:15:12
Speaker
um So that's pretty cool because you kind of get to recce the course in a race already. So you kind of know what's going to feel like to do that part of the event. um But for the audience, a sprint is essentially a, for women, like a three minute 30 down to three minute event in time.
00:15:30
Speaker
The climb takes a majority of the time um and has a lot of technical elements to it. um And then it also has a downhill component. um So you'll start with like an item called skins on the back of your skis, which allow you to grip to climb up the hill.
00:15:45
Speaker
And that's like essentially sticky backed carpet in a way. It's measured exactly to the ski synthetic or mohair fibers. You climb, climb, climb for a bit and then go through a series of diamonds, which are meant to mimic kick turns. It's a skill that allows you to to quickly change direction on the ski mountaineering skis when you're going up.
00:16:05
Speaker
And then we have a boot pack section, which is essentially where you take the skis off, attach them to your backpack and run up a boot pack line. You'll see that ah for the Olympics, they've cut out stairs in the snow, so it's all very manicured, um which is meant to be the way for the media. But in a lot of races, it's just a slope and you just need to run up it and pick your own line. um Then you've got to put the skis back on and finish the climb.
00:16:30
Speaker
You'll get to like a top transition box and you need to turn all your gear into downhill mode. So it goes boots, bindings, and then you rip the skins. Then as you go, you jump
Trail Running Evolution
00:16:40
Speaker
in and click into downhill mode.
00:16:42
Speaker
and go down through like a slalom course, but it's not a typical slalom course. They always set the flags like a little bit uneven, add in little jumps, berms, just to make it challenging. um And that's, I guess, one round of the sprint. ah It's a bit of a mouthful, that one. There's a lot going on.
00:17:00
Speaker
The mixed relay is like that, but glorified. You do you do it two times um and you have a partner who you tag and they'll do it and then you do it again and then they do it. So everyone's doing the whole course two times um super fun to watch because anything can happen.
00:17:17
Speaker
The vertical simple. The vertical, you just, it's the first to the top. um And I've heard that some people actually do it who can't ski down, so they'll catch the lift down, which always interests me. So they just know how to ski up. um But if, I guess if you're a runner who lives in a snowy place and you want to do a vertical, um maybe you just put some skis on and go up.
00:17:39
Speaker
ah But, yeah, thought that happens. um And then my favourite event, ah which is the one that really sets my soul on fire, but um I won't be racing any until the end of the season just because the injury risk is super high, is the individual where you have, like, a course in the mountains and there's technical descents often in the backcountry off-piste and lots of climbs and you're just navigating a big mountain terrain um on these tiny skis.
00:18:08
Speaker
with a lot of other athletes yeah and how long does yeah how long does that one take like how like how many is it hours or yeah yeah minutes like two hours roughly yeah
Olympics and Media Impact
00:18:20
Speaker
wow wow yeah so what do you reckon like this like the translation to trail running is it mostly the uphill part or do you reckon the downhill as well has helped like your downhill running and trails as well yeah i think muscularly it's been fantastic um Like sometimes I struggle to engage like my posterior chain in a really efficient way in running, but I've noticed like almost in the ski season my running is better because everything is so engaged. You have no choice. Like i need to push up the hill.
00:18:50
Speaker
um So when I'm running, um it's normally – sorry – ah really already like firing because I've skied early that day. um And then further to that, like downhill skiing on those tiny skis, like my legs burn, um particularly if it's off piste or on moguls.
00:19:10
Speaker
And I've noticed when I moved to running downhill, um I've already built some muscle in that area. So don't feel as fatigued. Yeah, cool. Awesome. but um Yeah, I guess like one other fun fact that I wanted to chat about was um the fact that you use you are currently sort of work as a DJ off and on um to fund your training and lifestyle.
00:19:35
Speaker
um How's that going? Like has it taken a bit of a backseat lately? or Yeah, unfortunately it has just because ah even now I'm not working. I just took the three weeks off of work.
00:19:46
Speaker
Um, because like, yeah, it's all consuming. Even when I get back the hotel room, I want to lie down or just do nothing. Um, because every training session right now feels very important. It's not like I'm going to gain a heap of fitness, but I for sure can fix the technical elements.
00:20:04
Speaker
And so a lot of the time I'm thinking about like the next training session or reflecting on like what I can do to keep improving on a certain skill. So getting the thought of getting the deck out and I do have it for a potential Australian team unofficial after party. Yeah, I was going to say surely you're going to get on the decks for the after party.
00:20:27
Speaker
and Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think so. But just getting it out right now and like doing a really serious project seems like a really big mental challenge just because I don't like to do things half- I would want to give it my full attention. yeah yeah Yeah, definitely always doing things by the full, which I love. And this is the, I don't even know if you know this, Jess, but um I love your musical background, Lara, and sort of just where life has taken you um But even in music, your musical Lara. What, you started as an opera singer and are now moving to a DJ?
00:21:00
Speaker
Talk through like that that like path in life that has been going alongside your running. And I also love i love the media attention that I have seen popping up in Australia, including like magazine articles, et cetera. And then I think I just remember a quote of like how the music helps you sort of handle the sports side of things as well mentally. So yeah, talk through that that journey that's been going alongside and is so much like part of the awesomeness of Lara Hamilton?
00:21:26
Speaker
Oh, thanks guys. um Yeah. so I guess I wanted to put music back into my life after I finished college. Cause once you're done with college, like the performance opportunities are generally less. like I was singing
Comparing Niche Sports
00:21:40
Speaker
recitals every week almost and in different performances.
00:21:45
Speaker
um and I thought, well, I'm traveling a lot. I kind of want sport to be the focus right now because I had taken a lot of time um, off AS and, um, so come my move back to America, you know, I'm not in Australia anymore. Seeing opportunities are less. It's 2021. I've got my diagnosis and I've just started running again.
00:22:06
Speaker
was like, I think that I can get into electronic music. Like I love this music. I understand how to make it. Um, and like the science behind it, I guess, like how many bars before this happens, yada, yada, yada.
00:22:19
Speaker
And so fast forward a bit and I found a friend who knew how to DJ. I got him to coach me a little bit, um used my tax return money to buy some decks, started to get gigs.
00:22:31
Speaker
Then it turned into like larger event gigs and then it turned into like, hey, can you make this mix for a radio station? And then a manager that came with the Olympics and um yeah, she's like, if you can do X, Y, and Z, I'll pitch it to this magazine.
00:22:47
Speaker
or this radio station. So that's been really, really cool. um I kind of just wish that I had more time. But yeah, opera singing is not dead. It's just taking a big backseat because like it's as much training as it is for running as it is for singing.
00:23:05
Speaker
i reckon surely that's got to help your breathing um and your lung capacity for all the sport as well. I think I was a faster runner when I was singing for sure. I'm better at climbing now, but, yeah, like diaphragmatic breathing because we
Financial Realities for Athletes
00:23:20
Speaker
would get in so much trouble if they saw us breathing any other way. Like they can tell they're looking at you when you're singing like, no wrong technique, and you would get marked down. Oh, gosh, I cannot imagine someone marking how I breathe. Yeah.
00:23:38
Speaker
that's ah That's intense but also just awesome that you've got yeah so many so many moving pieces in your life but I'm very, very glad to hear that you've taken this sort of three weeks to just focus on getting the most out of this one Olympic experience. um When did you arrive in Milano Cortina and like how's it felt since? Where where are you at?
00:24:02
Speaker
Yeah, so we arrived, would have been, Tuesday last week um we were meant to go to the ETC, but there was some um COVID. So instead we got diverted to a hotel and we kind of had our intro there. um The Australian team was super good about bringing hot food from home there and bringing our uniforms there. um So we celebrated kind of that part of the process there. And then um we flew into Milan, yeah, and drove up to our race venue, which is Borneo, but we're 20 minutes outside of Borneo in a place called Santa Catarina, and it's at a higher altitude, same as where I live, just to um continue rolling with that and reap the adaptations.
00:24:51
Speaker
um And we'll move into the Olympic Village on the 17th, so we're still a little while from now, but anytime we need something, we go
Societal Impact and Sport Integrity
00:25:00
Speaker
down there like – today we have our head shots, which is super cool. I just wish my face didn't look destroyed from the past week of training because we're still doing a lot. It's not close enough to the event yet to like seriously taper. And it's only a three minute event. And then a, for me, a 20 minute effort. So it's not huge taper.
00:25:20
Speaker
Um, so come Monday, which is like more of a rest day skills day, I'm like destroyed. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it's it's been, it's been good. Um, I kind of like choosing when I can go into town because when you go into town, it is crazy. um It's a town of 1,200 people that feels like a mini city right now.
00:25:42
Speaker
um I'll have to tell you guys about the pin quest because this is something no one warned me about and it is hilarious. Oh gosh, what is it? So I'll give an example. Last night I went to the grocery store in town. i just asked the coaches, I was like, please, can I?
00:25:59
Speaker
going to town just because I want some comfort food. Like the food that they've given us is great, but I have some very specific chocolate and cereals that I need in my room. So I'm there and this person comes up to me and goes, I know you're just trying to do your grocery grocery shopping, but could you please give me an Australian pin? And so what it is, is we carry pins with us wherever we go that have like the Australian logo on it and the kangaroo and Milano Cortina 2026. And the other person will typically have a pin of their federation or if they're Italian police, because I had a police come up to me um with Italy on it.
00:26:36
Speaker
So I think this man was from Bosnia, which is super cool because now I have a Bosnian pin um and we switched. I have like a San Marino pin, an Andorran pin, um a Finland pin. I have all these exotic countries, which was the goal because I was like, these pins are the most unique pins But the other funniest story was I was at the opening ceremony and I have to escort you everywhere, including to the bathroom.
00:27:03
Speaker
And I walk out of the bathroom and this Italian police approaches me and he's like, hello, I'm from the Italian police and I have a question for you. And I was like, oh no, I've done something. And I was trying to figure out what I could have possibly done.
00:27:16
Speaker
and he's like, do you want to trade a pin? ha go, holy dooly, you know, like grocery store, The bathroom, it's just any time you're around athletes, everyone's like, have a pin? you have a pin?
00:27:31
Speaker
So, yeah, just always have pins on me right now. Even in the bakery, he's like, I'm a Hungarian official. I'm the head of the Hungarian Olympic Committee. Here's a pin. i'm Like, totally, pins are everywhere.
00:27:44
Speaker
Love this. This sounds like all, yeah, there's so many of those little little menial things that actually become like the coolest keepsakes you bring away. yeah It's like ah the that only experience I've got it is it like World Mountain Running Champs where you're switching anything and everything from your kit with other people's kits at the closing ceremony and those sorts of things. But Pins is even better because – You can stock up on heaps of them. um I do love that. That's that's awesome. And might might I say, i loved your ah kit reveal post, but also yeah the winter kit is
Personal Growth and Stories
00:28:20
Speaker
epic. Like there was so much cool stuff in that kit and then it just looks so snuggly and warm and that Australia jacket that goes almost to your ankles and is that green great big puffy thing.
00:28:32
Speaker
Oh, my God, that looks insane. and very comfortable and very warm. So jealous. Yeah, it's it's actually a good kit. And I know sometimes you have to be careful with social media because you're going to get like a mix of things like, oh, this is great. Oh, this is bad.
00:28:49
Speaker
I had this is uninspirational. And I kind of thought you have no idea because if you got given this bag and you saw that every item they've given us is practical, like I have an entire new ski kit,
00:29:01
Speaker
then you go, this is great because I don't want items that I can't use in the snow. I would rather have like new puffy jackets, puffy pants, um ski parkas, four different kinds of ski gloves than like, hey, here's a jacket that you can only wear in this obscure work environment. And I'm like a mountain bum. I don't have a – I do have a corporate job, but it's remote and it's chill. um So I'm not going into an office wearing a trench coat. Yeah.
00:29:27
Speaker
The big coat is awesome because ah between events you just want to get warm and it's like a full body dress of puffer material.
00:29:36
Speaker
It looks, it looks amazing. I, yeah. um Yeah. I'm very happy with the, like the colors and just everything. I was like, I love the kit. they've They've done good for you. So very, very happy to see that.
00:29:49
Speaker
um Is there anything we haven't touched on that is, is Lara, is funny stories? you've You've always got some good funny stories, but is like something you would, you want to talk through um both or either in this process or trail running or all of the things you've had to go through just to get to where you we where you are today? um Not really. I mean, yeah, there's always a lot of funny stories we have ah in the team. It's just me and Phil, the male ski mountaineer. He does also a sprint and then a relay and then the two um team managers, Brian and Rob.
00:30:26
Speaker
Um, and there's like a lot of jokes, just sometimes other teams will say something that becomes like a quote for us, um, at the moment. Uh, so there's a great, great skier in contention for a medal for sure called Theobault from the French team.
00:30:41
Speaker
Um, and we saw him just blitz past some people in the field, like in the qualifiers are going off every 20 seconds and he's passing people. So he's making up time. And the Austrian coach was next to, um,
00:30:55
Speaker
Brian or Rob or both of them and he just turns to them and he goes, that's a different level. so now we try and like put that into as many things as possible. Like that's a different level. and we have little quotes like that, which is pretty funny or like spare me because if sometimes you'll just get lectured about something, particularly like from social media menaces and you just like spare me.
00:31:20
Speaker
Yeah. yeahp Yeah. I love those little things. i love I feel like, yeah, we've got a lot of those little quotes and I won't, I won't share too many of the, I think, was it the last time I saw you you that we were walking home after the golden trail after party, those three or four Ks late in early in the morning? We ran home. We ran home. We did. There was no buses anymore. But these are the sorts of the the fun stories in the background that I think sometimes almost, they don't, they they kind of provide the comedic relief in amongst the mountain of hard work that you guys have all had to put in to be there and be where you are because like the training, the hours you've put in while dealing with your body, um not always playing ball, and then the financial strain of being an Olympian in a niche-ish sport and a new sport. um
00:32:14
Speaker
Yeah, nothing short of incredible what you've achieved. yeah. Yeah, keep leaning on the comedic reliefs, but also our hope, and it might take until afterwards to take that deep breath and sigh of relief in a way because I know that this sort of tense state almost you have to stay in before big events like this. um But damn woman, I hope that in a couple months' time you can be looking back and just be like, hell yeah, we did that.
00:32:40
Speaker
um Yeah. Thanks, yeah. Awesome. Wow. I think that almost leads us into the topic we're going to cover today quite nicely in a way. But just quickly, Jess, my woman, how you been?
00:32:56
Speaker
Just give us a brief update. Yeah. Well, actually, thought like if we're going to go through training weeks, I was pretty keen to hear just quickly like a typical training week for Schemo from you, Lara. Let's do it.
00:33:10
Speaker
Holy dooly. Okay. That seems to be my word of the day. Holy dooly. Yeah.
00:33:17
Speaker
Yes, okay, well, we can take, like, my ah big build week, which almost killed me, and but we made it through. Because, yeah, you ride the fine line of sickness and injury on that week. um So Monday's typically an easy ski of two hours, and that's purely at a recovery pace. I can go wherever I want, so sometimes I'll include a friend in on that one because – I don't have to be on my race skis if I don't want. I might take my thicker skis and actually taste some powder.
00:33:50
Speaker
ah Then in the afternoon, I'll do an hour run and mobility. Tuesdays, um hard day. So morning would be intervals if we're doing VO2 max.
00:34:03
Speaker
I think my hardest session of the buildup, I did it with some girls from the Spanish team, was two lots of six by three minutes. Um... So that's really hard because, yeah, like you can imagine you're in like zone five, um but it was so good to have company for that workout.
00:34:21
Speaker
ah Then it's like rest, rest, rest, rest. rest And then the afternoon I'll actually do a running workout too, kind of modeling off the Norwegian double threshold, albeit it's not two thresholds, but it's forcing myself to come back and be able to race on tired legs because often there's knockout rounds in sprints and realize you're you're going again so um that'll be a smaller workout generally heals like two by 30 seconds then 90 75 60 and it cuts all the way down um so that's that day sometimes if there's time i'll even throw in my gym after that but um
00:35:00
Speaker
Lately, it's I've been pretty tired um on that day just because I've been really, really making the hard things hard and resting pretty hard. So Wednesdays, again, easy. um kind of have freedom of choice anywhere from 90 minutes to two and a half hours and a gym session um probably won't run just depending on how I'm feeling because gym takes a while.
00:35:24
Speaker
um Like for the sprint, I'm doing Olympic lifts and some pretty – heavy stuff, um which has been new for me, this build. um Then Thursday is ah more easy volume. I'll do like two volumes. I'll do a run volume and a ski volume, but ill in my ski volume, I'll work on technique. So I'm putting in the transitions, um which are the things you'll see when we do the up, like attaching skis to a pack as quickly as possible, putting skis back on the feet, learning to try transition faster from up to down,
00:35:58
Speaker
um They have to be done like ideally within five to seven seconds to be competitive each movement. So that's that. Friday's a rest day or easy volume. Saturday is another hard day, but um just one hard session. So typically it's been sprint focus. Like for example, um this weekend I did like two by a minute 30, two by a minute, two by 30 with long rest, like three to four minute rest.
00:36:28
Speaker
And that seems like, hey, that can't be that hard. Like you look at it and you go that's not a hard session. But when you're going absolute full gas, that three minute rest flies by and it's like, I feel like throwing up by the end of it. So that's been also learning. Like a session isn't measured necessarily on how many reps you do or how long the reps are. um Yeah. So it's like, it's kind of similar to running in the way that you have that structure of long and short and CO2 and threshold and sprints and yada yada. um
00:37:00
Speaker
It's just ah very tailored towards what events are coming up like depending what intervals I'm doing. Yeah. It sounds, yeah, like similar to running in terms of the structure, but it sort of sounds like you can do a little bit more because less impact. Is that right?
00:37:18
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. um Absolutely. Like i i wouldn't run as much as I ski. yeah Is your Sunday another just long ski or long run? I don't know if you said Sunday, but.
00:37:30
Speaker
Right now it's interesting. It's a bounding session, so intervals of like 30 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, not in that order. Wow. um in Into volume. So I'm like doing then volume on legs that have done explosive movement and that's just to prioritise A, that session and then B, like learning to like move for another hour and a half on legs that are like have recruited all their fast twitch if I have any. You do.
00:37:59
Speaker
I have every faith that they're somewhere and I think you're bringing them out with all this training you're doing and those Olympic lifts are going to be helping. I reckon you you've converted quite a few of your fibers to fast twitch by this point.
00:38:09
Speaker
um Hopefully. For sure. It sounds really fun. Like skiing is one of those things that I've been a few times. I've loved it every single time, but it's just like accessibility in Oz when you live by the beach is not great. So, um but it's just, I'm kind of jealous of seeing people move through the mountains doing SkiMo, especially those long individuals, as you said. um But also the training looks brutal, but my kind of fun, brutal. Yeah. So do you and do you enjoy that sort of process as you go and through it on these big weeks?
00:38:44
Speaker
I do. There are definitely days where it's hard because the weather might be super bad, it's freezing outside and you've got to go and kind of do what you did. maybe for three hours the day before unlike running it's like oh I'm just gonna go the treadmill today or like I'm gonna wait till the weather clears up no um typically you either have a set time that you have to go because of the resort rules or the snow quality um yada yada so you just gotta go and then you always have a blast when you're out there sometimes just getting out the door um yeah but I love what I do
00:39:17
Speaker
um I, my favorite thing is actually going in the powder and like getting those turns. Um, I'm banned right now from going off piste in any dramatic way because at the competition a couple weeks ago, i accidentally did a front front flip. It was not intentional. Um, it was witnessed, um,
00:39:37
Speaker
And i was they were like, right, no more off-piste because he like she's going to get injured. And that they are right. They are right. I didn't see the lip. I went off the lip. I had too much forward momentum. And what do you know, flipped over. I landed it and then fell backwards. And I thought, that's sick. like That's like the first I've ever done that on these skis.
00:39:57
Speaker
um But I won't be attempting it anytime soon. I love that. That sounds like so much fun but also that that holy shit moment of being in middle in the middle of the air. The fact you landed that woman, like props, that's amazing. Next minute we'll see you in the aerial event. I went fucked.
00:40:16
Speaker
I snapped my pit vipers doing it. That sounds like a land to me. That's about as good as you can get. Oh, no. oh wait, she's I'm going to claim it. We lost you for a second there, but you you came straight back. um I would definitely be claiming that. Love that. Yeah. Amazing. What a week. and what ah what is I did see, though, and actually this is a random question. I know you said that, like, on the when doing running you and can end up on the treadmill at times, but did I see you skiing uphill on a treadmill?
00:40:46
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah. That's do like a VO2 max test. um So in the off season, they do allow us to do that. fun That looked like brutal hard work but kind of a bit of fun in like a weird way.
00:40:59
Speaker
Science. I like science. Yep. Awesome. Awesome. Well, yeah, One question. So you probably don't want to think about it right now because you've got a lot on your plate but do you have any plans around like when you will transition back to trail this year and whether you'll be racing back in Australia?
00:41:20
Speaker
Yeah, so um I never really stop running in the ski season. um I'm doing like 60K a week right now, um just what I need to do And, i mean, I still have a couple World Cups left that will go till the end of March, if I'm lucky, early April. um And then I'll probably come home for a few weeks in April, but that's more. I need surgery on my mouth, yay. um Knocked my tooth out surfing.
00:41:49
Speaker
um sorry just another talent to add to
00:42:01
Speaker
I think in July I'll think about some stuff and have a later one just because um i know last year I didn't balance that super well and ended up a bit cooked at the beginning of the schemo season.
00:42:16
Speaker
Yeah, that's a hard balance having the two sports to navigate winter, summer kind of deal. Like it's that whole thing that we can sometimes get stuck in as Aussie athletes. If if you go to Europe, you come home to the Aussie season and then you go back to the Europe season. it's kind of It's the same thing if you're doing two sports, but almost even harder because seasons are always going to overlap. So yeah, hopefully that gets easier with time though.
00:42:41
Speaker
I think when you're doing it, it seems achievable, but you pay for it later almost. So it's like you don't know you're doing the mental, not damage until it's done. oh don't I know that right now.
00:42:55
Speaker
ah Yep, living proof. um But hopefully hopefully this year it's a little smoother and it just gets, as you get more into it, the swing of things, hopefully it gets a bit more like...
00:43:06
Speaker
easier to navigate. And obviously with this one being an Olympic year for Schemo, it's like, take that time and use that time and give your body that time. But then, yeah, there'll be other years possibly where it can be a bit more of a focus one way or the other, um which, yeah, we'll be cheering you the whole way through.
00:43:24
Speaker
A quick break in the show to thank Bix. Bix has just come out with their 30 gram gel in two brand new flavors. This is a new gel, new flavors. You've got the choice of the salted strawberry or the berry. The salted strawberry is also packing 300 milligrams of sodium as an increase, whereas the berry has 200 milligrams. Both make them perfect for the conditions we have in Australia, whereas most gels on the market do not have sodium within them. What Bix has done here is take the recipe for the gels that work so well, that 1.8 ratio that is very, very friendly on the stomach and added a soft, subtle, but very tasty twist that you can dial in your race day and your training nutrition to that extra fine detail.
00:44:04
Speaker
As you know, Bix has been supporting the show from the start and it literally helps keep the podcast coming to you every week. So if you want to support the show, level up your own nutrition game, head over to the Bix website, use our brand new code PEAK, P-E-A-K for 20% off at checkout. And with that, let's get back to the show.
00:44:20
Speaker
Jess, I know that neither of our training weeks are going to have anything exciting, as exciting as Lara's in it. Not true, not true. i I am still very intrigued to hear how you've been going, what plans you've got currently and like, yeah, where you're at with yourself.
00:44:37
Speaker
Yeah, I've been good. um I, yeah, had a really good week last week training wise. I think I've just been kind of still keeping it pretty low volume volume at the moment because I want to try and like my aim at the moment is to try and find a bit of speed that I think I lost last year with um mainly focusing on like longer distance races. um So yeah, had a good track session last Tuesday, some speedy stuff and then um a tempo on the roads on the Friday and both were just really good. Like I think
00:45:15
Speaker
um just starting to feel a bit more motivated and like enjoying training um I think a big part of it is finally figuring out something that's helped um my gut because yeah it's been going on for ages and like I think I just kind of like got used to it and like put up with it like every day sort of waking up feeling nauseous and not having an appetite, which makes it hard because you like feel like training in the morning is hard because you don't have like the energy. um
00:45:48
Speaker
And I think when you feel nauseous, like it also like affects like ah like the gut brain connection is so strong. It like affects your kind of anxiety levels and things like that. So yeah, um I was yeah always told by my GP that my um symptoms were from anxiety, but yeah,
00:46:08
Speaker
I sort of got to the point where I was like, I don't feel anxious, but I'm still feeling nauseous. So i was like, I'll try um this FODMAP diet because I just did some reading into it. And basically it's like, for those that don't know, it's um certain foods that break down in the stomach in a certain way that can trigger anxiety.
00:46:30
Speaker
your nerves if your stomach nerves are more sensitive than like a normal gut um which then sort of triggers your brain to go oh this food isn't um good for me and then you get like IBS so yeah I started that probably like a week and a half ago and and it's already made a huge difference um just yeah feeling a lot better which is amazing and it's just helping everyday life and training and Yeah, I'm really happy to finally find something that works because it's been a long time.
00:47:06
Speaker
Amazing. i'm yeah part Part of me is angry for you at the whole like, this is just anxiety um answer in a way because, yeah it's... It's frustrating when that's been passed off as one thing, but there is that physical thing going on and people aren't, ah it's it's hard sometimes to get the medical system to make those connections. um But yeah, low FODMAP, like the difference it can make when you're a human that needs that. And sometimes it is not even long, long term. Sometimes it's just your gut needs healing and a healing process and then you can slowly find things that work. But yeah, FODMAP is, I love the the mouthful, but it's fermentable.
00:47:45
Speaker
oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols for those playing along at home. But it's essentially like fructose um is a big one and um some of the fruit sugars and sugars you get in like um ah even gluten in a way. Sometimes people are also sensitive to gluten in a diff like in it as ah in a sensitivity kind of way but they're but they ah I don't envy you being at the beginning of that process of sort of the elimination diet in terms of feeling you get of being quite limited when it comes to fresh fruit and veg, which is not fun. um But, yeah, the whole process of getting rid of as much of it as you can to then slowly reintroduce. is mind-numbing and horrible and really like annoying how much mental space it takes up but then getting to the process of knowing what your body likes versus doesn't like and what you can and can't have because there's be some of those where it's like you might not be fine with fructose but you might be fine with maltose and it's like yeah this annoying process of figuring out what you can and can't have um that comes after the initial getting rid of everything but I'm pumped for you in just like the future you. Not you right now, yeah future you.
00:49:03
Speaker
Yeah, it's awesome. I'm like pretty relieved because, it's just been ages and it is hard. Like I feel like I can't eat anything at the moment um and especially like being vegan as well. It's good and bad because like it it makes – it means dairy is like not even in the question but like protein-wise and snack-wise it's pretty hard. um Yeah.
00:49:25
Speaker
I've got to get a bit more creative and spend a bit more time – preparing food and stuff like that um but it's totally worth it because yeah I didn't know it was possible to like feel like this again so yeah good I'm pretty happy so happy and you need just need to search around for a few specialty stores I'm hoping Canberra might have them but like I have a gluten-free bakery that also does low FODMAP so like you can go in and buy a normal version of something and an onion-free version of something and like things like that so Search around and more and more things are popping up and people are more and more aware of like onion free and those sorts of things as well. um because it gets, I have a fructose, I have a sister with like full blown fructose malabsorption. So like she cannot have fructose. um And so, and that's since I was little. So it's like, i've I've known this process for quite a while and it it it gets easier.
00:50:15
Speaker
um But in your training week, um like, and if you're feeling your long run still and stuff, how's that feeling? Is it feeling better? And like your thresholds? Cause I know that was a big struggle. Yeah, actually um I got some SIS gels from work that were like um because the AIS were like getting rid of some gels. um So they have like some ones that don't have any fructose in them. So I tried them on my long run and, yeah, they went down fine. Like I didn't feel any symptoms after. So that was really good um because, yeah, usually like I think the precision ones are okay because they are like two to one glucose to fructose but i do notice that I get a bit bloated after and like obviously in like most of my races last year I vomited so it's probably probably contributing to that um which is bit of a shame but yeah I think sad yeah but the SIS ones are okay like it's sort of yeah I know I'm so lucky to be up to the SIS I was like oh my god so good
00:51:23
Speaker
Yeah. Lara, do you have to follow any um particular diet like this for your AS with low FODMAP or anything? Well, it's like Jess. um I also did the elimination diet and I think I was eating like pears and rice and oats and um had to introduce like amines and preservatives and even take it away for like eight weeks.
00:51:47
Speaker
Yeah, so I did that and I can't have preservatives. um They give me mouth ulcers. This trip's been a little tricky, but the medical team's super good. And like when Jess, Jess, I know Jess works at AIS, but when she mentioned, oh, like SIS, yeah. um The Australian Institute of Sport has been so good about giving us um like food from home and supplements that are safe and match tested. So, yeah. Nice. But sorry to interrupt, Jess. I was just like, oh, my gosh, your workplace is the best. Yeah.
00:52:16
Speaker
but It's so good to hear they're doing something right. No, many, many things, as including providing you with gels that your stomach likes. And, yeah, that, again, game changer in races, like once you find that out.
00:52:34
Speaker
Yeah, the only thing i was going to say is that um like the ones that I have, they only have like 25 grams of carbs. So it's a little bit annoying because you have to carry a lot or I was just squeezing them all into like a little flask. But I was like, oh yeah, that's what I do too. Because I use the winner's gels for this exact reason. Like they are only maltodextrin. They're not, yeah they've got no fructose as well. And i actually really like the flavor and them being available at a supermarket makes it really handy. um But I do the same where it's like I'll just decant a whole bunch of gels into a soft flask, which I will say for anyone dealing with this at home, the better way to go about it if you have the time, which doesn't actually take that long, is make your own gels with maltodextrin and glucose. um The struggle I've had with that is, as Lara just mentioned, finding batch-tested maltodextrin.
00:53:26
Speaker
is that really hard so as a the more top end or the pro athlete or elite athlete it's kind of hard when you really want to trust what you're putting in your body um but anyone at home make your own and it's it's even easier again to put them in soft flasks but this is going to be this is going to be awesome Jess I'm I um can feel it I can feel it amazing answers coming um Yeah, and um what about you? How are you going, like, since you um went on the Solomon training camp and, yeah? Oh, yeah, on the Kunanya training camp. Yeah, that was that was beast. um But good. um i did have, yeah, I'm kind of up and down in a way, like ah still learning the whole new ways to navigate. It's almost like that.
00:54:18
Speaker
i I almost say the new limits of my body, but it's like the new current limits, how much and when to push them so that they slowly increase without going back um when it comes to sort of, yeah, dealing with whatever I'm dealing with, which is still sort of yet to be named until multiple more specialist appointments. But I did see an ENT and had that, ah like, Lara, you might have been in this position before, even you just like many people possibly where it's like,
00:54:45
Speaker
had the appointment and he went, yes, you have a I have a problem with my parotid glands, um which is your saliva glands in your neck. And Everyone this whole time has been telling me, yeah, that's separate to everything else that's going on. And I'm like, great. I just have two things that are completely separate that are occurring at the same time. This sounds perfect. But they keep swelling and they're really quite sore and there's pressure like around my neck like the whole time um when they are being annoying. Turns out my glands don't drain properly. And it was one of those really depressing medical appointments where you walk in and the appointment is pretty much, yeah, Here's your problem. The fix would be major surgery of removing these glands, which we're not going to do anytime soon. So you just have to put up with it. And I was like, amazing.
00:55:28
Speaker
I don't want to, but cool. This is the hand we've got. That's fine. um Like ENT's exact words. He's like, yeah, you've just got a pain in your neck. You got to put up with. I'm like... Oh, thanks. um So that was kind of annoying in that way of just, yeah, when it's when it's this daily thing that you sort of low level have to deal with that you know isn't actually that bad, but when it's every single day, it kind of adds up and you're a bit like,
00:55:57
Speaker
part of me is like, oh, just give me the major surgery, knowing that it's not actually the answer because that causes its own problems and you're just left with another problem to deal with. So there's no answer to one of these things that I've um currently got going on, but dealing with that and we'll be fine. um But training wise, got back to another week of training and I managed a whole 40 Ks um feeling reasonable. I did a session. I did my first session back with Tim on the bike, On Wednesday, I only did one session this week and it was um actually quite a long one really, six by three minutes on, three minutes off. So 36 minutes, um much longer than I'd done previously, but
00:56:37
Speaker
I'm finally at the stage where my limitation, rather than feeling sick, feels very much like fitness. um so i' my current fitness is at the level of my three-minute on reps. I was kind of struggling at 4.15s and going, okay, cool, that's fine, buddy. We're still progressing from where we were a month ago. It's like that whole you really have to switch off from past you and not compare and go four fifteen s is like...
00:57:06
Speaker
easy runs sometimes in my old life. And currently my heart rate is really high and I'm struggling at the three minutes. um So I'm in that sort of phase, which I'm actually enjoying of, I know I'm going to feel a little, hopefully fitness wise, a little better and more progress each week. But also very much you just go, okay, ego, you're you're leaving the building for a little while and we're going to take this slow and we're going to do it right. And my heart rate's where where I want it so I don't need to try and go faster and go outside the zone I'm meant to be in just because my ego is a little bit hurt right now. um So, yeah like on the whole, I couldn't have asked for much more. I ran a whole 10Ks yesterday. It was my first easy run in five months that was double, like just normal easy run that was double digits and felt fine.
00:57:58
Speaker
And I was like, the big step five months later, we're finally somewhere. yeah. Yeah, like i'm I'm doing as well as I could be at this point. I am also at the point which I feel is a bit like, and again, when any chronic illness that you've got going on, you always, I know this point is reached depending on the people in your life and like the new people that know you. But I am also at the point where it feels like a few months ago and when it when all everything was hitting the fan and it was brand new. um And this is just general people in in my life and it's fine. There's nothing meant by it. But it's like you say, oh, I'm not having a good day. I'm unwell. And it's like, no worries. Take all the time you need and just left. I feel like I'm back at the point where it's been so long of saying that, that now it's like, oh, are you sure?
00:58:48
Speaker
We would really like you here. Can you do this? Are you sure that you can't? And it's like that whole, that subtle pivot where I'm like, no guys, I get that this is like been a long time now and it's frustrating because I keep saying no to these things that I would love to be able to do. Promise you it's more frustrating for me. And it's it's like that weird shift where it's like, yeah, it's been six months, guys. Like it's been a while. yeah.
00:59:13
Speaker
it's still the same in a way where it's like you still have to say no and aren't reliable. And I hate being flaky, but I'm about the flakiest person around right now. um So it's fine.
00:59:25
Speaker
But you've got to do what you what's best for you and like to protect your energy. Oh, 100%. 100%. I have no problem with it. It's just this – I love observing human behaviour and it's just funny observing the whole process as you go through it where it's like, yeah, it's just another doctor's appointment. Or people going, oh, you're back running, you must be better. And I'm like, yeah, I'm still waiting on three specialist appointments and I'm just actually better at kind of coping with it in a way because it's less new and it's more just life right now. So it's fine. But, yeah, all a process.
00:59:58
Speaker
All a process, that's for sure. Moving on, moving on to um Lara, I know we've only got you for another sort of 15 minutes or so, i believe, 15, 20, depending on when you need to go. So just let us know when you need to ah go do important olympic and Olympian things. um But on topic for where we've been chatting um is some And this is a really, really good article i that I read um or that Killian Jornet put out um recently called State of the Sport or State of Trail Running in 2026. And it's it's quite long and in-depth and it's ah on a similar vein to what we were talking last week on the pod in terms of like changes in the sport, where the sport's heading, where are we right now
01:00:44
Speaker
And at the same time, there was another, um on Trail Mix, um there was another State of the Sport article written by Matt Walsh, which is similar vein where it's almost like we're at this pivot point in trail running where it's no longer this like small new niche sport, um as Matt Walsh puts it, of like it's not that dirtbag kind of sport anymore and that the – participation is changing where it's it's more your, I think Killian actually calls it the triathlonising of the sport of it's like it's you're more wealthy, there's a higher um there's a higher cost to participating and it's now a big enough sport that you you can't ignore the catch points and you the you can't ignore some of the lack
01:01:28
Speaker
even arguments, discussions that are constantly going on between all the governing bodies and all between the series of like the calendar between Sky Running, Golden Trail World Series, UTMB and then the Pro Trial Runners Association and the discussions and input, which is all amazing and part of the sport sort of growing. But it is like we're at that point where it's it's like we are big now. What do we do? And how how do we now shape the sport as we move forward? One of them is Similar to what's happened with Schemo recently of is the sort of trial running in the Olympics. Is it going to be there? When is it going to be there? What does that format look like? And then how does that change? um in his article In the article, killian Killian gives an interesting take on things where it's he compares it more to triathlon games. in a way where it's like, okay, this is neither good nor bad.
01:02:21
Speaker
Like it doesn't need to have negative effects and it may not have all the positive effects that people think. I think he compared in Schemo how, yes, that's become an Olympic sport and therefore now there's more countries participating. but And I don't know this because I'm not in the scene, but he's observed less um amateur participation in certain things and like a bigger divide between the Olympics part of the sport, which is the sprint, and the the original sport, which as Lara said, is the that individual long time out in the mountains, like that big bit of a divide where almost the amateurs, because they're the ones doing the out in the mountains thing, they ah less relate to the Olympian ah side of the sport because it's it's deemed quite different.
01:03:04
Speaker
And then on trail on the with the triathlon thing, ah Killian almost described it as like it's like triathlon where triathlon has one Olympic distance, which that doesn't actually it's almost like a separate thing and doesn't take away from Ironman and the T100 and it's almost like everything just kind of finds its place and settles in which I think based on my interpretation of it is where he sees trail running settling if if and when it makes the Olympics of like We have that Olympic discipline, which, yeah, might be that looped course through a village. um I can't remember the words he used, but it it was more like an urban trail loop mix kind of thing. um That, yes, it's there and, yes, it's cool and, yes, it's entertaining, but it's almost like this one discipline within the sport that is shown as opposed to the sport. Yeah.
01:03:53
Speaker
and how yeah yeah trail running is often compared to athletics because we come under world athletics, but we're actually closer to cycling, which has its road, its gravel, its mountain biking, its like different disciplines, which are very clearly defined as different disciplines kind of thing, as opposed to just different distances.
01:04:11
Speaker
So initial thoughts, Lara, on the sort of changes happening in trail, you're kind of living it in two sports right now um as you're going through it. Yeah. Yeah, pros and cons and things you want to change versus things that are just like not as good.
01:04:27
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rather than pros and cons, I would just – I just have observations and, like, you know, my coaching staff here, they attend the meetings and even in these Olympic Committee meetings they're talking about 2032. I think, yeah, what people have to understand because I came into the Olympics with expectations and not all of them have been met and that's the thing about an expectation ride is, like, you can set yourself up for a sad time, a happy time, whatever, based on – what you expect.
01:04:58
Speaker
It's better just to have no expectations because A lot of the Olympics is set up for media and for view viewers because that's how money is made. So when your sport goes to the Olympics, it's going to be designed for the media and an audience-friendly format. It's not going to be designed with, like, the most epic trail race you've ever done in mind or the most epic skimo course, right?
01:05:22
Speaker
It's going to be something that can be, if it's a new sport, so it's going to be a test event or introduced, it's going to be done in a way where they're testing it and, like, how well was it received by the audience? Did the TV?
01:05:33
Speaker
ah channels want the rights to it what was the viewership so those are the actual questions that are going to come first like does it make money and that's a hard reality to accept but that is like the question at the at the top um it's not necessarily a hundred percent about does it serve the athlete and their desires no that's not coming first and I think we have to accept that and you know I will say this because it's hard. like there are I have to limit myself on social media right now because I love the individual.
01:06:03
Speaker
I love grand courses. But you can't tell me for one second that if an athlete was given the opportunity to briefly shift their training and shift their focus to what is in the Olympics because they have an opportunity to go to the Olympics, that they wouldn't take that in a heartbeat.
01:06:19
Speaker
because there are a lot of people writing stuff and I'm not saying about Killian who's saying this isn't true schema, this is this, like we're against it. How does it make the athletes who have that opportunity feel like, o you know, i i don't love it, but I saw it. i adapted. i said, I've always wanted to go to the Olympics for the experience.
01:06:39
Speaker
It's an honor to put on my country's gear and to say, Hey, like, we're a summer nation and this is a new sport and we, Oceana had a quota spot and I worked really hard for that. I'm going to go and do it now.
01:06:52
Speaker
It's just important to bring it up because this meteor is floating everywhere and it has a negative impact on the mental health of the athletes who are choosing to briefly shift our focus to a sprint or maybe you love it and compete.
01:07:05
Speaker
So with trail running in mind, yeah, with trail running in mind, um, You know, maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. At the moment, netball and cricket are on the front of the cards because Australia or the host country has to pick sports where they think that there's medal potential. Now, cricket, netball, no-brainer. I don't know how far that's going to get pushed.
01:07:28
Speaker
um Trail running would be cool, but for sure. knowing that when ski mountaineering, if it goes into 2030 into France, which I'm pretty sure it will, uh, and they want to add in an individual, even our individual race would be like a circle format up, down, up, down the same course, not some grand epic race in the mountains.
01:07:47
Speaker
Somewhat modeling that trail running would probably experience the same thing. um So yeah, it's just, just being in the Olympics right now and understanding how things work. It's important to remember those things ah because athletes, you don't have a say you adapt, adopt and go and do what is handed to you to the best of your abilities.
01:08:08
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. And I think people are very, very ah quick to look at something that's different and decide it's not good because it's different. um And I actually, in trail running, I take the the flower courses or the looped courses as included in this, which as someone that's competed in them on Golden Trail, um i love them for the unique experience they give. The feeling of doing it like and every loop was almost always different. So it's not as if you're doing the same loop every time, but the feeling of running back past a crowd, which you don't get at any other races and the feeling of like, um yeah, that whole ah access and people seeing the race play out. And for me as a runner running the course, I'm like, well, I feel like I'm on a different trail constantly because I am. Am I returning to another point to ah a central point? Sure. but it's almost like people that, that mental block of going, Oh no, we're not doing some big adventure. That's a great big loop or a point to point. Therefore it's not as good. And I'm like, Hey, I'm running different trails constantly getting tracked, um, getting, uh, different challenges on this course, but I get to see spectators really often. You get to run through like bigger fields of them than you used to. And would I want this to be every race? No. Not at all. But do I love this for the experience it is on that one um circumstance or at times? 100%. it's like that that whole and and I like how
01:09:39
Speaker
Killian puts it almost in a way of like it's just different disciplines in in the sport which each own discipline doesn't need to take away from the other. And the introduction of a newer one doesn't take away from the original and it shouldn't take away from the original. It almost in many ways it will add. Like there's more countries now that yeah participate in Schemo. There's more awareness in Australia in particular because It's more accessible. There's more support for Schemo athletes. Many Australians will have no idea what Schemo is and therefore you're almost at an advantage in that way, Lara, of their introduction to Schemo is this introduction to the Olympics and some of the media coming out around it. So there's not that comparison of, oh, but it's not true Schemo because there is no reference point for true Schemo. um which I'm saying that whatever they they're putting in the Olympics, a schemo discipline. It is schemo.
01:10:30
Speaker
It is true schemo. It's just a different discipline that doesn't take away from anything that's been there in the past. It adds to the sport as it's moving forward. And is there always going to be some pros and cons? Is there people that in time some ways will look at it and go, well, I wouldn't be good at that because it's not what I've trained for, therefore it's bad? Yeah.
01:10:48
Speaker
Yes, is there that very small, not even argument, but is that part of me that's a bit like, well, someone that's been in the sport training in a particular way for really long events for a long time that then can't translate that to the shorter distance and show that they're a really good schemo athlete because of the discipline trainers chosen for the Olympics? Sure. Is there going to be a bit of that almost heartbreak for them of going, this is this is my sport?
01:11:11
Speaker
but this, I can't translate my personal physiology into making a spot on the Olympic team because of the discipline chosen there. Yes. But is that the way for many Olympic sports because they don't have all the disciplines? Yes. That's just sport. And just because it's not you don't get to like and go to the Olympics. It's almost like your sport's just as good.
01:11:32
Speaker
It's just, it's it's the same. It's still very popular. It's still awesome. You still get to participate and you can still do all of the normal things of a sport um in that way. But i'm I'm here for that whole like every time I see people going, oh, it's not true schema, I'm like, guys, it's schema. It's a different version of what you you're used to. It's not the...
01:11:55
Speaker
It's not the bread and butter of it. Actually, it kind of is because the techniques are all, you can apply them to the big mountain. And yeah, isn't how the sport was born, but it's what the media and the big decision makers allowed us to have, to have the sport in the Olympics right now. um Like, yeah, could have been different show, but it's what was given to us. So you adapt to it or you complain. Well,
01:12:18
Speaker
And this is realistically, um and I say this for Trail 2 in a way, i' ah am I a diehard enough fan that I probably still would tune in in a way, sure. But as someone that's going to spectate and watch this schemo,
01:12:30
Speaker
Would, am I really excited for the fact I get to watch a bunch of all out sprints that do sort of, you understand, you can see the concept, you know what's happening immediately, even though you're not it deep in the sport and you don't have to understand the sort of the to's and fro's of who's better at uphill, who's better at this, who's going to come good late in the race, blah, blah, blah of the longer races. which have their place, absolutely love. But of course, as a spectator, it's almost like you get that constant adrenaline rush of watching people sprint. So of course, there's going to be more people that tune in. Same goes on the trail where ah like I love 100 mile races. Am I ever going to sit down and watch one? No.
01:13:10
Speaker
like Do I love tracking someone doing one? Sure. Do I love being there and crewing? 100%. I'm not going to sit down and watch it. It's not good viewing. Like it's just not these looped courses at times. And some of these golden trail races, help you meet you and me have been there, Lara, where it's just like, yeah, 30 seconds between 10 places sometimes. like And it's does it it holds that sort of actual entertainment value as opposed to the intrinsic epic value that these sports have for what they are, which they do have incredible value for what they bring us as humans and what we get to do when we test ourselves out there, that doesn't make them an entertaining specor spectator sport um for those aspects. so
01:13:55
Speaker
Yeah, I think people often get too caught up in the us versus them or if they have this, it takes away from this. Whereas it's it's almost just like, hey, guys, can we just all build it up together simultaneously where it goes, hey, so if this is what they're allowing us to have in the Olympics in trail running in future, how can we leverage that to introduce people to the other disciplines in trail running? And how can we sort of work that in together? um i think is a much more conducive. way to look at things hopefully as we move forward and hopefully um one of the things that I'm most sort of not concerned about but most like this is going to be a bit sad if it does happen is like Killian's uh um observation that sort of technical running technical trail races are dying off um and becoming less common and less technical both because of insurances and things going wrong in the current world wanting that to be always safe and it's like hey guys we're in the mountains it's not safe it's fine But also, efficient
01:14:57
Speaker
it it's fine. we do We choose to be here. um But yeah, and as someone that adores technical races, it's it's that question of, and both these articles put it where it's like at us as consumers of the sport and participants in the sport, it's like, okay, where do you want to place your money and value within the sport piece to keep that side of the sport going or to to bolster that side of the sport. And for some people, that's the non-technical shorter distance races. For some people, they're all in on ultra distance. For others, like for me, I'm happy to go all in on all this technical stuff because that's where my soul is and that's where I'm going to like be happiest. So for me, it's like that
01:15:39
Speaker
Do I love the fact that the UTMB events and these big things are there because they bring more people in and they bring more awareness and they make the sport bigger? Sure. Am I personally super excited by them?
01:15:51
Speaker
No, I love my little events where there's like 50 to 100 people on the start line and we're off on a big adventure together. um It's almost, but that doesn't mean that the other people are doing it, that like the big events are doing it wrong.
01:16:03
Speaker
or I'm doing it wrong. It's kind of that whole, hey guys, we can both be here. But I've been talking for a little bit now. So Jess, chime in. Yeah, I definitely like agree with what you're saying. And um I guess like another kind of comparison that's happening right now that we can think of is like in running itself, like it's become such a popular sport which is like such a good thing for for society because it means people are like looking at healthier um like options for spending their time. um
01:16:38
Speaker
and like socializing and like we're still seeing the elites being able to do their sport on the track, um, and which is the Olympic side of the sport. But then the wreck, like the general population is able to still participate in running in like fun runs and like park run and different parts of running. Like it's still, it's possible to coexist, um,
01:17:03
Speaker
in that way. So I don't think it's going to ruin the sport at all. um I think it'll just can continue to grow. Yeah, that's – and the growth has been very cool to observe. Yeah, go.
01:17:17
Speaker
Actually, it's like this. UTMB, you know how it only counts like the 50K races to qualify? Like if you run a 20-ish K UTMB, you can't go to the big dance. Like there's not really like, oh, a huge prize money race, right?
01:17:33
Speaker
Yeah. It's like 50K above. Well, then Golden Trail caters to like the shorter distance and then World Cup caters to even shorter distance. Like that exists in Trail.
01:17:44
Speaker
Well, it can exist in Schemo too. And essentially, as Schemo has got more popular, it's almost a model for that. And all exist at once and we have options where we go. It's just a food for thought. It's kind of like what Jess was saying, like, you know, the track exists, this exists.
01:17:58
Speaker
And it's a beautiful thing because it doesn't matter your inclination to shorter events or long events. There's an option for you. There's an entry point for you. And people either accept that or they're going to fight it.
01:18:08
Speaker
But like as a sport gets more money and more popularity, it's going to change. That's just how it is. Yeah, 100%. hundred percent And even when it comes to calendars and these sorts of things, like I don't actually think we need this super big cohesive calendar that allows all of the series to play nice.
01:18:27
Speaker
um essentially Because part of, I'm just like, well, they're catering to different people and it's almost not even good as an athlete to want to do multiple series in one year or like there's enough runners to go around now to fill all of the series and at a very good level. um It's not as if the series need to compete every single year for the exact same runners all of the time um when it's like,
01:18:55
Speaker
settle into your niche and find your runners for that year sort of thing and and you can go with it and it can all be quite cohesive in the way that us as runners have so much choice on where we want to spend our time and ah invest our um training to towards. um There is probably more series around sort of in that ultra distance in a way or like there's that whole it I get that it gets a bit different in the ultra distance in the way that you are once you hi once you go do say 100k you're usually sort of out of out of business for a little while and so it's harder for many many different things to coexist in some ways but also there's enough runners to go around still because there's so many runners um and it's The elite support is slowly improving. um
01:19:45
Speaker
Lara, I don't think you've actually read Killian's thing, but he has a ah very interesting take on sort of – not interesting take. He's very um sort of just goes, well, hey, the reality is that Olympic athletes are often quite broke and poor and trying to scrape and make ends meet and sponsorship is just not actually there and it's like – Sponsorship in trail running is growing and realistically on the world scale as a sport, we're actually doing quite well when it comes to supporting elite athletes. Could we be better and closer to road running? For sure.
Financial Struggles of Olympic Athletes
01:20:16
Speaker
Would it be nice? Sure. But if you actually look at the a number of Olympic sports and how niche most of them are, most Olympians are surviving on not much money. um that's just the reality. Literally a skin of an oily rag. Like you, when you make it to the Olympics, you haven't necessarily made it on a financial level. That's not, that's a fake.
01:20:39
Speaker
What do you say? Like a fake, it's, it's, elephant it's not, it's not reality. um You actually have to, if you're an Australian, win a medal before you make it. So like that to get to a medal level is probably very much on your own backing.
01:20:55
Speaker
So it's, it's the same in trail, I'd assume. Like I, I don't have, actually don't have any sponsors. I have an underwear sponsor now. Thank you. Nobby plug shamelessly, but, um, love that. Yeah, no, like you can be an Olympian. You can win big events or place high at really big events. Um, but you don't have a sponsor and that's reality. so just,
01:21:19
Speaker
Do it because you love it, not for anything else. Yeah, exactly. And, yeah, there's there's people that, yeah, it's it's like, again, pros and cons. Do you want athletes to be justly ah compensated for their value? Sure. ah Yes, yes, not just sure, but yes. um But is it a reality that most athletes aren't ever going to be? Yeah, um that's kind of it um at this point in life. Yeah. But yeah, that I think oh I'm going to put both of these articles in our um show notes so that people can go read them. They are very interesting reads. I actually reckon I'm going to, James has put about 10 to 12 different questions that he's he's kind of um ah wanting to talk through. And I reckon we might save it for a pod where he's on so that we can get his take on a bunch of these because,
01:22:12
Speaker
um If there's anyone that does all the research on these things, um it is James and I would love to hear his thoughts, ah including um which I don't know how much context either of you will have um on this
Debate on Pacers in Endurance Runs
01:22:25
Speaker
one. But yeah, recently the Pro Trial Runners Association also put out an article that supported the exclusion, like getting rid of paces at well Western States um endurance run for the elite field.
01:22:37
Speaker
um And I've been in all the chats in sort of the ProTrailRunner chat um in the background as this is going on and it's almost quite divided in some ways. um Probably more people, I would say, leaning towards getting rid of PACES, but it's changes like that that are sort of being made because of having these associations um and those sorts of things. And that change isn't happening. It's more something that's being lobbied for.
01:23:02
Speaker
um within Western states, which is quite historical as having pacers. So it'd be um interesting as a change. um But I don't know.
01:23:16
Speaker
Yeah. yeah I think a lot of people would be disappointed in that because there's actually quite a few people that I know in Australia that have like made the trip over, made a holiday out of it just to be a pacer for a friend. so Yeah, yeah. So, well, yeah, one of the arguments, though, is that it's the yeah some some inequality between financial um constraints of some runners of, like, getting a PACER and, and yeah like, supporting a PACER to be there. Not that I've seen it often be a problem.
01:23:47
Speaker
um in terms of people often want to pace they want to be at western states so i'm less inclined to think that that's actually a problem in some ways um because i don't know many runners that would turn down the opportunity to pay someone at western states um if they are in the area or can make it happen so That, yeah, but then it's like there is, it's an interesting one because there's people arguing um and a lot of elites arguing the whole, that the pacers are not needed for safety. But I know some elite females that have been going over there and wanted a pacer for safety at night.
01:24:23
Speaker
Like you're you're in a new country in an area you don't know with animals, you don't know. never having run that terrain before, that trail before, if you haven't been there before, like deep in a hundred mile race. So for me, i I'm also like, yeah, sure. It's not needed for safety for the very, very front of the field and some people, but there'd certainly be still some ah very high elite athletes that feel a lot safer with a pacer. So Yeah, it's just another thing that we can keep track of as it as it's happening um in terms of – and then then there is the argument of like, well, it makes cheating easy. And I'm like, well, I i believe in the goodness of humans, guys. Like just make it a rule, make that make the like make the penalty bad enough to put people off but also then it's just like –
01:25:08
Speaker
Hope that everyone's honest, but not even just hope, but like watch and look for the rules and that thing. That that thing has cameras the whole way along pretty much, like surely. um But yeah, watch this space on that one.
Staying Motivated in Sports
01:25:20
Speaker
We'll keep chatting about these things as ah as ah they happen. And before you quickly have to go, Lara, um I have just one question that has come through from Instagram ah from Brad McClelland.
01:25:36
Speaker
And that is, What tips do you have or how do you re-centre with your why when things get really difficult? Which is a great question. Yeah. When things are getting difficult, it's because i think there's a lot of changes that we're being resistant to or things happening in your environment that you're not used to or things not going the way you expected them to go.
01:26:02
Speaker
So, like, recognising that, okay, like, that is... taking away from like why I started doing this in the first place, for example, like there's been a lot of curve balls on this Olympic trip and a lot of things that I've had to navigate, which have a mental impact, even just beyond getting to training.
01:26:23
Speaker
um You know, when you're really tired or you're like, man, I've been grinding for years, I'm i'm tired. So I make an effort for some training sessions to be purely what I enjoy whilst I'm not allowed anything crazy or extreme right now, fair enough, coaches, um if I see a little patch of powder, I'm like, i'm gonna I'm going to go and ski that right now because it's going to make me really happy. I'm going to laugh. I'm going to smile. I want like one Yahoo turn today, like Yahoo.
01:26:54
Speaker
And then, honestly, i remember I'm like, that's why I do it, for that feeling. It's this ah indescribable feeling. I think surfers have it too, across other sports. I think imagine as a trail runner, you are screaming down a ridgeline of a beautiful mountain just all around you is epic scenery,
01:27:12
Speaker
You feel good. um The weather's perfect. You know, you've got like ah the lingerie waiting for you at the bottom of this run. You're with your friends. Life is good. That is the feeling. It's like euphoria. And that's when you go, hey, that's why I do this. Like beside all the racing because racing has its highs and lows.
01:27:30
Speaker
So that's how I resend myself because if it's just all like, hey, Laura, do this 15 seconds, do this transition, like turn around this gate, blah, blah, blah. Okay, yeah, it's fun, but it's not like,
01:27:40
Speaker
why I started. I started for chasing backcountry turns and just having a blast with friends and like, oh my God, I climbed this mountain. Now I'm going to ski down it. Like the feeling of that that achievement itself is great. Yeah.
01:27:56
Speaker
I love that. It's like keeping the fun and keeping keeping the why in everything you're doing in little pieces so that you can get through the difficult parts knowing more of that's coming, um which, yeah, I love that. And Jess, for you, how do you reckon, like what what tips have you got for staying in touch with why you run?
01:28:16
Speaker
Yeah, I definitely um like noticed these things um like recently when I sort of lost a bit of motivation after last season. um And then coming back from my break, like I think the two things that I found that really like helped me build back that drive and love for the sport was Firstly, like running with people. um That's one of my biggest whys, like the social connection that running brings. So just like reaching out to people and like inviting them on your runs, I think that makes a big difference to like the enjoyment of what you're doing.
01:28:57
Speaker
um And like finding people to do sessions with, even if it means you have to kind of like change up your plan a little bit, just being... flexible in that way just to like have a bit more enjoyment. um And then secondly, like the other part of the spot that I love is just like um like the exploring, so like finding a new trail. So like on the weekend um I sort of did both. I found a new trail that I hadn't run on in Canberra and I invited friends and I had a really great time and loved it. Nice. Yeah.
01:29:32
Speaker
oh nice yeah Yeah, yeah i love that. i um It's a very similar vein here, but ah similar to you what you were describing, Lara, where i I love exploration and I just love being out there. But like I can distinctly remember my first two world champs. um You go through this massive build of all this tension and all this hard work and everything's hard. And it's almost like you're doing a side of the sport that isn't exactly why you did it, but you also still love. Like I love the pushing, but it's also like it has a limit in a way. And so after each of those world champs, and I wasn't as good at doing it during training blocks at this point. Now I'm good at micro doing this within a training block of going, hey, I feel a bit mentally drained today. i have zero plan. I'm going to go run and I'm going to take turns. I never take. I don't care how long this run goes for. It's whenever I go back to the car is when I go back to the car. And I call it my going rogue day and that's fine. I go off the plan and I just go rogue. But I used to take that to extremes and like have this week where t I'd be like, Tim, I don't have a plan after this world champs. And he's like, yeah, cool. Go for it. I've had some of the best weeks of my life in those weeks. I've run the whole Costa Brava coast running 42 Ks a day, jumping into um shops as I'm going through and like just going
01:30:50
Speaker
um supporting myself literally by just shopping along the coast as I'm running along this coastline ha or like Argentina Argentina at one point it was like okay I have no training plan for this week because I've done my world champs thing I get to do go do what I want and went on a 10-hour run through the mountains through absolute nowhere ran out of water drinking from snow that I was trying to melt in my soft flasks because I was up high in the snow absolutely didn't see a soul kind of thing And it's like yeah i i would that would almost be my gift for putting in the work to go to those world champs and to put in so many hours of stuff where I'm just like this is really freaking hard.
01:31:25
Speaker
And it would be like those those few runs or that week would almost make it make every single hard thing or sacrifice you'd made worth it. And I used to have those as these shining beacons off in the distance and I still put them in. They are still there. But I'm a lot better now at the whole like – Hey, um I can feel I need a little bit of this now.
01:31:43
Speaker
And so it's even on on the Kunanyu training camp a couple of weeks ago where I was like, I know I shouldn't send this downhill, but I want that feeling. And I sent the technical downhill and got that as you were talking about, Lara. That's all I was thinking about. I'm like, yes, that feeling where you're just like, my feet are doing what I want them to do and they remember this and how to do it.
01:32:02
Speaker
And my ah ITB blew up the next day. But I'm like, I'd still do it again. I'd 100% do that again. Don't care. Because that that feeling reminded me why I'm doing the slow process of getting back to actually running the sport. And that's where even in the people I coach, I'm a bit like, hey, guys, if you need a day where you just go do something for the hell of it, go.
01:32:22
Speaker
Be my guest. yeah Let me know you've done it so you can adapt your training. But go do. Do not feel like you need to always follow a strict plan to the thing Or like I've told you to go easy one day and you send a downhill because it feels freaking epic.
01:32:34
Speaker
Sure, that's fine. We can adapt and make it so that that's part of week. And it's those things um for me that are very much the, if my why isn't in every, almost every week of training in little bits, I'm i'm not ah i'm not as good of a person. So um yeah, I'm with both of you on that one. Yeah.
01:32:54
Speaker
Lara, I believe you need to go. Me and Jess are going to run through some results, but ah we can let you go so that you can go do your headshots at ah the – is that where you're off to? No, that's this evening. I have like alpine skiing today. It's a rest day, so like no uphill, just like practicing downhill technique because I get to sit on chairlifts. It's not too much of an exertion.
01:33:17
Speaker
Love that. That sounds like so much fun. Well, you go enjoy. do. And thank you.
01:33:25
Speaker
Thank you, thank you. There's Jerry's out there who don't know how to ski and you spend the whole time dodging them. That's like, I'm very afraid of other people right now. yeah I can imagine. you Yeah, no, just avoid those people at all costs, please. um yeah Please do not. Yes. Well, from everyone at Peak Pursuits, good freaking luck. We will all be watching. we will i will be cheering so freaking hard when you are racing at the Olympics in ah in a week and a half's time um and you will have the entire country behind you, I have no doubt, because
01:33:59
Speaker
ah Yeah, it's just enjoy it. Take your moments, breathe it all in, take the seconds to enjoy the fact that you've made it there. um And no matter what happens, freaking proud woman.
01:34:12
Speaker
So proud. Thanks. You're almost almost making me cry. i really appreciate it, guys, really. um It's so nice to hear some Aussie accents, particularly you girls. um So take care and thanks for having me on.
01:34:23
Speaker
You're welcome. Thank you. Thanks, Lara. Bye, guys. Oh, how good was that, Jess? I loved it. So good. Awesome. Now, all we have left is a few results to run through um and a very quick what is coming up.
01:34:38
Speaker
For the results, I'll quickly start with Cradle Mountain, which I cannot find the official results for, but my Strava sleuthing tells me that Angus Tolson won on the men's side and Amy Lamprecht won on the women's.
01:34:51
Speaker
If that is wrong, don't hold me to it. that is based on Strava, searching people ah up. So i we will go through the full results next week when we can get the official ones. um But for a couple of other very quick results, and Sydney Trail Summer Series Manly Dam,
01:35:10
Speaker
um The women's winner was Yanna roberts Robertson in an hour 58, Jessica Angus second in two hours and 29, two hours flat and 29 seconds, and then Montana Yonker in 29.
01:35:27
Speaker
two hours and three minutes. On the men's side, Dave Byrne won in one hour 43, Claudio Matoso in one hour 44.10, so he was 30 seconds back. And this is great because it's one hour 44.10.3 for Claudio and one hour 44.10.5, so of a second back, was third place, which was Brinberg. I would love to see that photo finish.
01:35:52
Speaker
Yeah. Because that's not even a, that's 0.2 of a second as a proper sprint. um So yeah, well done to those runners. Then in the John Forrest Trail run over in WA, which did you ever run, do you know what this one at all, Jess, from WA or not? I didn't do that race, but um I definitely did another race around there. um Yeah, nice. Like in the Perth Hills.
01:36:17
Speaker
Perfect. Well, it was won by Liam Fury in 50 minutes and 47 seconds on the men's side and Catherine Stockwell in fifty seven fifty seven which I love that time, on the women's side. ah Similarly, in the Wentworth Falls 16K, we had Elijah Gosby winning in the in an hour 16, Anne Hand winning on the women's side in an hour 37. And last but not least, the Robey Run or Robe Run.
Recent Event Highlights
01:36:44
Speaker
I'm going to say that's probably Robey, but... um
01:36:47
Speaker
In the marathon, Kate Savage got the win in 3 hours 43. And this is stinking fast. David Starr? Stare? I'm sorry if I got that wrong, David. But he won in 2 hours 46.29, which it's a marathon.
01:37:04
Speaker
So that's a bloody fast marathon. I'm not sure on the actual trails. I know it's not got a huge amount of gain. It's about 350 metres. But yeah still fast. um on Yeah, and on the women's side in the 21.1, Erin Potast won in one hour 34.14 and actually second place was only 30 seconds back in Monica Van Dyke.
01:37:27
Speaker
um And on the men's side in the half marathon, Joshua Thunig won in an hour 27. That's all the results. Jess, you want to take us through a quick what's coming up with Tara Werra?
01:37:40
Speaker
Yeah, so yeah um we've got an exciting week coming up with some Aussies in action over in Tarawara. yeah, I guess starting at the 21K in the men's, we've got Nathan Pearce.
01:37:57
Speaker
um So very excited to see how he goes. I think it'll be his first time at Tarawara and coming from like a road and track background, the course should suit him pretty well.
01:38:08
Speaker
um And then in the women in the twenty one cave we've got Katinka, Von Elston Wellsteed, Michaela McDonald. um And I think another one that we don't have on the list here is Lydia o O'Donnell.
01:38:23
Speaker
Yeah, of course. Yes. Yeah. So that should be another good race with some Aussies right up there.
Upcoming Races and Events
01:38:30
Speaker
um And then in the fifty k um that's pretty stacked as well. So in the men's, we've got Charlie Hamilton, Gerald McPherson, Billy O'Malley and Zach Newsham. um So a couple of really strong Aussies there. Yeah.
01:38:48
Speaker
I think Charlie was originally going to do the 100K, but he stepped down to the 50. So, and yeah, I know he's looking super fit, so it should be very exciting to see him. He's won before or second? I think he's been on the podium before. I think maybe he raced, was it Robbie or Ronnie Spark? Yeah.
01:39:14
Speaker
think Ronnie Spark won a few years ago and, He was maybe second or third. yeah So it'd be good to see him take the win if if he can. um And then in the women, in the 50K, we've got Ella McCartney, Julia Anderson and Sarah Levitt.
01:39:32
Speaker
um So another strong field on the Aussie side there. um And then in the 100, so that's the golden ticket race, in the men we've got Our very own Vlad Ixl, Jared Owen and Jeremy May. um Yeah, so excited to see how they go.
01:39:53
Speaker
um And then in the women, this one's pretty stacked. So Beth McKenzie is returning this year. Juliet Sewell also returning. returning um Steph Austin's that going to be there.
01:40:08
Speaker
Holly Ranson off the back of um her epic season last year. Lucy Bartholomew, Zoe Manning, who we had on a couple of weeks ago, and Lou Clifton. So some really incredible women there. It's going to be epic to see how that race shapes up. um And then lastly in the miler, we've got Hannah McRae.
01:40:33
Speaker
So she will be coming off the long trail at Worlds last year um and then Sarah Parkins as well um for the Aussies. Yeah, that is – I'm very excited to see how this goes for so many people. um Yeah, very, very stacked field on the Aussie side, which is very cool to see. And also in action we have – this is over in the US now in the Black Canyon, 100K. Anna McKenna is on her way over there. i
01:41:05
Speaker
I'm assuming that's a um golden ticket race for Western States. I think so. Yeah. Yeah, I'm super excited to see how she goes as well because it's been a long field back from her injury that she was sort of put out with last year. um And we did see her race the 56k at two bays and she did really well. Like she was super close to that course record. um So, yeah, she's looking super fit. Yeah.
01:41:34
Speaker
um excited to see how Anna goes very much so yeah and then other races that we have coming
Simone Brick's Nickname and Audience Engagement
01:41:41
Speaker
up um are the Australian Alpine Ascent so that's over in Kosciuszko National Park Mollymook Splash and Dash ah the Flying Brick Ballerine Sunset Run I've always wondered about this. Is it named after you? No. The number of people that are like, oh, do you run this run? Is this yours? Like, is it you? so yeah And i don't I don't know if I've told this story on the podcast before, but it's I'm named after that run essentially, but that run is named after a cider. Flying Brick is the sponsor of that run. It's the Flying Brick Cider Company. yeah um
01:42:18
Speaker
And the way I got my – that was technically actually my first trail run. technically because it came before Donna Double the year I did it. Yeah. It's gravel.
01:42:29
Speaker
Like I'm not sure I would, I was a roadrunner. I would, it was very, it's very road. It's beautiful. One of my favourite events and it's such a beautiful introduction in a way to trail, but it's gravel. There's a little bit of sand at times, but.
01:42:42
Speaker
um, is a lot of footpath. Um, so I wouldn't, yeah, that's why I didn't necessarily count it as first trail trail in that way. But, um, Tim Crosby, uh, my coach was, is usually on the mic doing the commentating as he loves to do. Cause that man can talk. Um, and he, I, I didn't even win. I don't think I'm pretty sure I came second. Like I don't remember actually winning, but, um,
01:43:07
Speaker
they ah he's obviously doing the commentating and spruiking the sponsors and that sort of thing while everyone's out running. And then I come ah i come in to come a second, third, whatever I came. And as I'm coming across the line, he's commentating and he goes, and now here comes the real flying brick, Simone Brick across the line. And that's so good. Yeah. And we kind of just rolled with it in a way because then people around were calling me the flying brick and thinking it was funny. And I'm like, yeah, it's entertaining. And honestly, I changed my Instagram handle kind of as a joke at the time, um because at that point in my life, my Instagram handle I needed to move away from was still that mental girl um from like previous life of not being mentally very well at all and having a lot of struggles. So I needed a new Instagram handle. Simone Brick didn't, I don't know, I didn't want to take that. So I just went with the flying brick um with Tim and it stuck. um Because then the next race, I think there was a race not long after that where so they they put the flying brick on my bib um without me actually asking. And I was like, i love it. That's fine. Fine by me. yeah Let's go with it. And yeah, the rest is history.
01:44:20
Speaker
pretty much. That's such good story. The number of people that are like, you own this event, right? like, no, yeah not mine. Because I always thought your name came from like, you send it downhill like a flying brick.
01:44:34
Speaker
Well, that's that's why it stuck. That is why it stuck um because then Tim just kept calling me the flying brick, especially as I was like doing more trail and mountains.
01:44:46
Speaker
um yeah And then surname brick, it kind of works. It's funny. Anyways, so I was then the flying brick from that day forward. ah That's so good. um um Anyways. Yeah. Getting back to events coming up. So lastly, we have Upper Beaconsfield Tower Run in Victoria, Yaburu Trail Twilight Ultra in WA, and the SEQ Trail Series Round 6 at Wirealong Dam in Queensland.
01:45:16
Speaker
Yeah. That's a big, that's a packed weekend, but yeah definitely we'll be keeping track of Tarawera. I don't know who we've got lined up for next week, but no doubt Brody's got someone good for us and we will have a lot of Tarawera chat. Hopefully, I'm assuming Vlad will be on so he can talk us through his race if he's not completely trashed from it but that's what you have to look forward to coming up and we will endeavor to get Lara back on post-Olympics and post-Olympic debrief time for her. um So feel free to send through any questions anyone has. um Make sure you go for follow Lara on Instagram and give her some love and watch and cheer as loud as you can as she embarks on her Olympic endeavors. So her first event will be on the 19th of Feb 11.55 Eastern Standard Time. stay up for
01:46:08
Speaker
so i can stay up for it yeah i will Definitely. yeah super excited Nice. And then so that means that would be the Thursday. So the following Sunday is when her next event is. um So yeah, follow along.
01:46:24
Speaker
um And as always, thank you very, very much for listening. Feel free to send through any questions, feedback, anything you like. And until then, we'll speak to you next week.
01:46:37
Speaker
Thanks, guys.